From: New York
Date sent: Wed, 5 Feb 1997 14:35:04 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Ingredients For Remediation

TO ALL LOOPIES:

Why do students leave school in need of remediation before being capable of pursuing higher academics or before being able to use English or basic math on whatever job they are hired at?

Two possible answers: Owego Pennysaver Press, Feb. 2: "Bridging A Generational Gap in Owego. The high school "Human Development" course allows students to study different age groups and understand the characteristics of individuals and how to work with them. [how to WORK WITH THEM!] One segment of the course "allowed the students to visit a local nursing home and "interact with the elderly." The teacher thought this "interaction was a great activity to follow-up studies with K-5 students and even Pre-K. (Nothing wrong with visiting in nursing homes, but it should not be a classroom activity!) The photo showed three of the students "waiting to do the Macarena one more time." [We work with the elderly by dancing the Macarena?]

Buried in the article [as most crucial clues are] was: "Although the next stage of their human development training [TRAINING!] will be child psychology...." [CHILD PSYCHOLOGY in tenth grade!]

Binghamton Press, Feb. 5, 1997: "Deposit Schools Study Careers: "Grades ONE through six at Deposit Elementary School will have the chance to learn about career opportunities..." [Grade ONE, marking time until the real teaching of reading kicks in in two more years with 100,000 "volunteer tutors"?]

"They will be introduced to professionals who will discuss their occupations. The professionals the students will meet include a cosmetologist, horse trainer, florist, state trooper, conservationist, taxidermist, funeral director, actor, photographer, chef, veterinarian, cake decorator, X-ray technician, woodworker, masseuse, nurse/practitioner, telecommunications specialist and receptionist. All of the professionals are Deposit residents." [It takes a whole village taking "family leave" from their jobs to help mold little first graders into careers "at the earliest age."]

Everyone is jumping on the "Read America" propaganda bandwagon. Instead of reading in classrooms to children who should be learning to read themselves; what we need is a "Read Adults!" campaign to get Americans to read something besides happy little children's books. They might learn that having children take a morning off to learn about cake decorating, massages, and funeral businesses, it could be much more productive and much less expensive long-term to just let children be children, let adults work at their jobs, and stop the circus processions through the classrooms.